Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 58,402, settled in 1875.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Severn grades B+ overall, 116th of 259 graded towns in Maryland. Natural-hazard risk is low. The median household earns $134K and residents are healthier than 83% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $512K, 5.1 years of the Baltimore metro’s $99K median household income. Severn’s rent at the middle of the market is $2,175 a month, above both Maryland’s towns ($1,809 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Queenstown Rosenwald School is on the National Register of Historic Places. Severn is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns.
Where Severn beats most towns.
44,231 counted in 2010 and 57,118 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Severn is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 15%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 20,147 in 1980, 57,118 in 2020. The archive holds 7 maps from 1894 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Severn. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw25 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw27 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw26 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw25 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaM&T Bank StadiumWhite House: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Monument: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · M&T Bank Stadium: United States Department of Defense Cherie Cullen, Public domain
Severn is unincorporated, so Anne Arundel County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Mar 11, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Severn.
One declared disaster, in 2003, has brought federal aid to Severn households. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 97% of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims in the town since 1979: 9. FEMA puts 48% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 11% to hurricanes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools: the Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Two of its 8 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The 5 public schools in Severn teach 2,483 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgeway ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 551 | B− |
| Center of Applied Technology-NorthLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | – | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Against the 4,105 U.S. towns with household incomes like Severn’s, it is less healthy than 53%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Just over a fifth of Severn adults get no exercise outside work. Against the Maryland average, Severn comes out ahead on 13 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1. Two figures for adults in the town: 19% have been diagnosed with depression, 11% report frequent physical distress.
| Severn | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 20% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Severn | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.3% | 5.8% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.4% | 5.9% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 72.9% | 76.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Severn’s typical journey to work stands at 28 minutes. Only 5% of working residents stay in Severn for work; the rest commute out. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in the town rose by 2,026, to 17,278. The share of residents in Severn who live below the poverty line: 5.7%.
| Severn | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $134,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 17% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Severn home is worth about $512,000, up 1.3% in a year, 20% above the Maryland typical home. A home in Severn typically sold within 33 days of listing. In Severn, just over two in five sales closed above the list price.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
13% of residents are 65 or older in Severn. Maryland has 44% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 46%. For Severn, the midpoint age is 36.5 years.
| Severn | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 42% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Median age | 36.5 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across Maryland, 51.3% of residents are women. Median age: women 36.2, men 36.7.
| Severn | MD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.6% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.4% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.5% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.2% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.9% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.7% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 8.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.6% | 23.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.3% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.6% | 6.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.3% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.7% | 20.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The biggest park or preserve is Severn Run Natural Environment Area, at 222 acres. Walkers can cover 4.8 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The trail network density for Severn comes to 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Severn | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Severn-Danza Park | 1.5 mi | 44 |
| 2. Matthewstown-Harmans Community Park | 0.3 mi | 46 |
| 3. Queenstown Park | 0.3 mi | 27 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
12 within 15 miles of the center of Severn
About 8 of every 100 Severn residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maryland.
Where Severn’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
7 notable people were born in Severn.
Census-designated place in Maryland, United States
Severn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Severn is 57,118, a 22.6% increase from 44,231 in 2010. The zip code is 21144.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Severn.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Severn | #116 | B+ | D | — | B− | A− |
| Gambrills | #133 | B | C− | — | B− | A− |
| Odenton | #102 | A− | D | — | B− | A |
| Fort Meade | #135 | B | D− | — | B− | A |
| Glen Burnie | #138 | B | C | — | B− | B− |
| Jessup | #139 | B | D | — | B+ | B |
Severn, Gambrills, Odenton, Fort Meade, Glen Burnie and Jessup report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Severn with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Severn grades B+ overall, better than 69% of U.S. towns and #116 of 259 in Maryland. It grades A− for health and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
7 notable people were born here, including Toni Braxton and Tamar Braxton.
